


Happiness

by nerdlyn



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Mute Link, after a couple paragraphs this thing started writing itself, fight me, its mostly from zelda's pov, link and zelda are best friends, there are time-skippy bits in here its. probably confusing im Sry, this started as a cute oneshot and turned into ?????? whatever this is i honestly dont know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 09:37:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8619352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdlyn/pseuds/nerdlyn
Summary: It took her seven years of waiting and five minutes of observation to figure out that Link could not speak. But as much as she wanted to learn his sign-language, they had a kingdom to save, so it would have to wait.





	

It’s with only a little bit of shock that Zelda realises Link cannot speak. 

In retrospect, she should have noticed when they first met- but Link’s fairy had done all the talking for him, and her ignorant ten year-old mind had assumed shyness. He hadn’t needed to tell Navi anything when they first met- he’d just listened, and nodded along, and the only thing that had required him to talk- an introduction -had been done by the fairy. 

So seven years later, disguised as Sheik and standing in the Temple of Time after waiting so long, she finally realises that this boy is incapable of speech. She’s watching him as he becomes used to his new body, and he signs something to Navi. Zelda can hear the chiming noise her wings are making even from where she stands, hidden, and after a few moments the sprite giggles. 

“You’re all grown-up, Link!” Navi exclaims, and Link stares for a moment before looking down at his hands, and then at the Master Sword. Another quick gesture.

“Yes! Pick up the sword, Link, you heard the sage!” And Link smiles, hesitant, as he lifts the ancient relic out of its pedestal and gazes at it in awe.

Zelda decides to make her presence known.

The smoke bomb goes off with a snapping noise, and Link immediately shifts into a battle stance, made somewhat awkward by the inexperience in his new body. Zelda steps out of the smoke and looks him over, nervous; watching for any sign of recognition. 

She almost sighs as she realises Link has no clue who she is. All the better. He’s looking threatening, but his expression is so boyish she almost smiles. Under her face wraps, her lips do quirk up a bit, but she shakes the amusement away and moves forward again.  
Navi is hovering protectively around Link’s shoulder, and Zelda notes absent-mindedly that he is left-handed. 

“Hero of Time,” she says, lifting her harp and her chin and turning her sharp gaze to Link’s childish blue-eyed one. “I have been waiting for you.”

\------------------------------------------------------

She recognises the sign for “who” now. She’s seen him do it enough times. 

Zelda purses her lips, reluctant, but she knows he will find out regardless.

“Impa, the founder of this village,” she says, grimacing, heat from the flames of burning houses on her back. “She went into the Shadow Temple to attempt to stop the evil spirit, but I fear-” She breaks off, and Link signs something. Keep going, his eyes say, so she does. “I fear she may need help. She may be in danger.” Immediately, regardless of his injuries, Link stands up, face twisting in pain but eyes staying determined. 

Zelda frowns, but Link can’t be stopped, and so she helps him steady himself.

“I’ll take care of the village.” She gazes around at the carnage, eyes troubled. “Could you help Impa?” She’s holding onto some vain hope that he’ll say no, but she knows, she knows that he must, and she wants him to, but she can see that he’s been through so much already and she doesn’t want to put him through more. 

Link’s ten year-old eyes, set in his teenage face, are hard, and they show her a mind that was made up before she even asked. He nods, a single jerk of his head, and he makes to run off. 

“Hang on!” Zelda says, taking up her harp. “I will teach you the melody you need.” And she plays the Nocturne of Shadow twice; Link gets it right the very first try, and she gazes wistfully at the Ocarina of Time. 

\--------------------------------------------------------

She watches the dawning realisation on Link’s face: he cannot get into the crawlspace leading into the temple. His brows furrow and he glances at Navi, making quick movements with his hands. The little fairy seems confused as well.

“If you were still a kid....” she half-mutters, and Link purses his lips. He seems to reach a decision and he turns abruptly, making for the exit. 

Zelda takes this as her cue and discreetly makes her way outside.

“Oi!” she calls, and Link turns his head up sharply- she is standing on the rock lip hanging over the entrance to the temple, harp in hand. 

“You cannot hope to get into this temple as you are now,” she begins, and Link frowns again. I know, he seems to be saying, chiding her. What do you want me to do about it? 

“Return to the Temple of Time,” she continues. “Replace the sword of evil’s bane, and you will be a child again.” Raising her harp, she eyes Link purposefully. He scrambles to take out his ocarina and holds it at the ready, eyes as bright and focused as they were seven years ago.

She thinks about the first time they met as she strums the Requiem of Spirit, and she doesn’t notice the tear running down her face until she sees Link squinting up at her through the desert sand. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------

When she finally reveals herself, instead of looking shocked Link is overjoyed, as if a burden has been lifted from his shoulders. He gestures wildly, and when she only smiles bemusedly at him he points to his own smile and makes a gesture once, twice, three times. Happiness, and his eyes sparkle, in spite of what she has told him about the state of Hyrule, and her eyes begin to shine for an entirely different reason when the voice crashes down on their reunion like a thunderstorm.

It’s just his laugh, at first, but Zelda’s blood runs cold as it invades her hearing, unwanted and cruel. Link doesn’t blanch, but instead shifts into a battle stance, looking around for the foe Zelda knows isn’t there.

“I knew you’d reveal yourself eventually, Princess Zelda, you foolish traitor!” the King of Evil booms, the triumph in his voice twisted and harsh. Link’s eyes widen, and he stares at her. Where is he?!

His eyes move away from hers, however, and he notices it first, the shimmering magic barrier creeping its way up from the ground. He opens his mouth in a mockery of the sound he cannot make, almost amusing except for the look of horror in his boyish features.

Zelda feels rather than sees the crystal enclose her, and she is drained suddenly, and quicker than both of them can blink it surrounds her and she is lifted. 

“Link!” she cries, one hand flat against the wall of her crystal prison, but he cannot hear her, and even if he could he cannot answer. That horrific laugh ripples through the air again, and Link looks furious, jaw tight and left hand white on the hilt of the Master Sword. The bottom right triangle on the back of his hand shines through his glove.

The very picture of courage, Zelda thinks, eyes dropping to her own hand as her brows are drawn sharply together. And where has my ‘wisdom’ gotten me?  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

She’s just beginning to wonder how much more of this she can take when the ornate door swings wide open and Link steps through, bedraggled and slightly singed. 

To her consternation, the music spewing from the large, dark organ doesn’t stop for several long seconds, and it ends on a drawn-out note that makes her shiver.

Link moves further into the room, but stops suddenly, gaze flicking to his hand in shock. Zelda notices the light emanating from her own limp hand, and Ganondorf stares at his without surprise.

“The Triforce parts...” he begins, and Link’s face takes on that intent look he gets when he listens to something important. For some reason, this bothers her.

“They are resonating.” The Gerudo steps away from the organ, moving his cape behind him in a flourish Zelda would roll her eyes at if she wasn’t so anxious. 

“Combining into one again...” Ganondorf trails off and looks at each of them in turn. Zelda trembles in meeting his vicious, golden-eyed gaze with a defiant one of her own, but Link steps forward and fairly snarls, face contorted in a foreign expression of loathing. I don’t care, you monster. 

The King of Evil looks amused, and his eyes narrow as his mouth splits open in a nasty smile. 

“The two Triforce parts I could not capture on that day, seven years ago...” he says, slowly stalking his way over to Link, who holds his stance. “I didn’t expect that they would be hidden away within you two.” His face shifts, an expression of overwhelming greed twisting his dark features into something less than human. “And now, they are all gathered here!” Link grits his teeth, readies his sword, and anticipates.

“These toys are too much for you!” Ganondorf roars, and Link is suddenly aware; aware of the energy sparking around the man in front of him, and of his sheer size- almost twice his height and ten times his muscle. The room begins to shift, the organ disappears, and parts of the floor fall away as the Gerudo lifts into the air, dark energy surrounding him like a vortex. “I command you to return them to me!”

Zelda drops to her knees and prays.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Ganondorf’s eyes are wide, and he looks alarmingly human now, lying on the rooftop of his dark castle and bleeding out. 

“The Great Evil King Ganondorf...” he croaks, holding a hand to the largest of his wounds. “...beaten by this kid?!” Link stands over him, his expression odd. The Master Sword is dripping.

Zelda’s crystal shatters, and she runs to him. “Link!” The Hero turns, eyes questioning. She reaches his side and takes his hand, but her gaze is on the dying Gerudo.

“Ganondorf...” she murmurs, eyes pained. “Pitiful man...without a righteous mind, he could not control the power of the Gods, and...” Alarmed, she jerks her head up. “We must go, and quickly!”

Link sheathes his sword and she tugs on his hand, speaking as she half runs. 

“With his last breath, Ganondorf is trying to crush us in the ruins of his tower!” The stairs are crumbling even as they hurry down them, and when they reach a barred door Link is almost distraught.

Zelda stops and lifts her hands, long dress shifting and golden hair blowing in the wind, eyes shut in concentration as a warm yellow glow surrounds her hands. 

The bars disappear, and she is tugging him again. “Hurry!”

She repeats this process for every barred door they come across, and when she is trapped in a ring of fire by left over dark creatures, Link kills them more quickly than he thinks he’s ever killed before.  
He tries not to think about that as they continue down the spiralling tower.

They reach the bottom and exit the cursed castle just as it totally collapses, dust and rubble flying in all directions as the Hylians duck for cover behind a large boulder. 

The rumbles of the ruined structure have barely ceased when they slowly move out from behind the rock, expressions matching each other; careful hope.

“It’s...over...” Zelda whispers, half a question, and her eyes turn toward the castle but see nothing. A smile turns the corner of her lips up, and she looks as though she’s concentrating for a moment.

She stares Link tentatively in the eye, making a hesitant gesture with her hands. Link grins and mouths the word: Happiness.  
The sound of the very earth groaning wipes the smiles off their faces.

They turn sharply towards the ruins, subconsciously gripping each other’s hands. 

“It can’t be,” Zelda breathes, but it is, and at the same time it isn’t.

Ganondorf rises from the rubble, the Triforce of Power shining on his hand so brightly they almost can’t look at it. His prone form seems to ripple, and then a burst of pure energy causes them to shield their eyes; the Master Sword is knocked from Link’s hand and sent flying.

When the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny uncover their faces, the King of Evil is nothing but a mindless beast.

A barrier of fire throws Zelda away from Link, and she lands beside the Master Sword; Link is inside the barrier, weaponless except for his bow.

He whips it out and faces the beast fearlessly, and Zelda never stops marvelling at this boy’s bravery.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Seven years in the past, Hyrule is still beautiful, a land full of rich colours and happy people. Seven years in the past, Ganondorf is nothing more than an intimidating sorcerer from the desert with questionable loyalties. And seven years in the past, Princess Zelda watches him bow to her father from her secret window in the courtyard, dark clouds from her prophetic dream hanging over her.

She squints, furrows her brow, bites her lip. Her nails scrape the stone window sill as she thinks intently about how to make her father listen, and caught up in her thoughts she doesn’t notice the footsteps until they come to a halt behind her.

Zelda whirls around, a hand flying up to cover her mouth,and her heart fairly stops at the sight of a boy clad in green, with a wooden shield and a fairy hovering around his shoulder. She almost stumbles back, so strong is the sense of recognition that hits her- but she isn’t quite sure what she’s recognising. All she knows is that the fairy must mean-

“You’re from the forest!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together. “And wearing green...do you, perchance...” She hesitates, wondering if this is safe. But the appearance of another omen from her dream is not something to be ignored, so she plows ahead. “Do you have it? The shining green stone of the forest?”

The boy nods, and takes another step forward. The fairy chimes.

“Link, go on! Tell her what you know!”

Zelda tilts her head quizzically. Link...so familiar...

Link grunts, and begins making gestures with his hands. When the princess only continues to look confused, Navi begins translating.

We must not open the sacred realm, for if we do, Ganondorf...

\-----------------------------------

Seven years in the future- in a future, one of many- a king of evil is possessed of the Triforce of Power, and the whole kingdom of Hyrule. Seven years in this future, a princess of destiny masquerades as a Sheikah boy in order to hide herself and her Triforce of Wisdom. Seven years in this future, a hero of time is just waking up, and hasn’t an inkling of the fact that he carries the Triforce of Courage.

Seven years in this future, we return to seven years in the past, and create a new future.

Three days in this future, Ganondorf, Gerudo King of Thieves, sits in a cell in magic-restraining chains awaiting his execution. Two days prior, Princess Zelda goes to her father once more with her prophesy- and Link, who tells all he knows of the old future to the king as he’d told all to Zelda. 

In this newly born future, Zelda is not permitted to watch the execution- too young, Impa murmurs, and leads her away. Link is given no such restrictions, however, and he tells her all in the dusk that settles afterwards.

It seems strange to the princess that after extinguishing such a life the world goes on. More than that, though, she realises how much she takes for granted as she watches the sun sink with Link by her side, and she laughs a queer little laugh as she quietly thanks her future self for sending Link back to his childhood. 

Her little green hero makes a questioning noise, but she just shakes her head and squeezes his hand; he is content to squeeze back and bask in the half-glow of the setting sun.

It is not an ending. Ganondorf, however evil his intentions, was a king of sorts, and Hyrule was never on good terms with the Gerudo. But, Zelda reflects, now we can fix that. We have the future and the peace we need to fix that. We have the whole world and all of its time to fix that. 

Zelda is hit with a strange sort of memory, odd in that she’s sure it’s not really hers. But she bites her lip and stares at her hands, and when she tugs on Link’s sleeve to make the sign she thinks she saw in the foreign memory, he lights up as if to account for the departure of the sun itself and returns the gesture.

He doesn’t do anything else, and they sit there until Impa comes to fetch them, sighing about how late it is, and ‘do you want to catch a chill, you silly children?’ Zelda smiles, she smiles so widely she thinks her face is like to split in two, and she throws her arms around Link before he exits the courtyard.

“Happiness,” she sighs, waving earnestly and freely at him even after the tip of his green cap disappears behind a corner. As Impa leads her back to her wing of the castle, she gazes at the twilight as it settles over Hyrule- her Hyrule, her safe, beautiful, peaceful Hyrule.

Happiness. She settles into bed, free of the gnawing anxiety that’s been haunting her since she dreamt of dark clouds and green heroes. No, this isn’t an ending. Serenely, Zelda smiles and shuts her eyes, eager to dream sweetly for once. 

This is a beginning, and instead of heavy visions of the future, the princess sees rippling green fields and blue skies, and she runs and laughs and plays in the grass with her quiet green hero evermore.

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my docs for 300 years dhdgfsghd


End file.
